Northwest Harvest

Northwest Harvest is a non-profit organization supporting food banks in Washington State, U.S.A. Founded with a somewhat broader agenda of "respond[ing] to pressing social needs" by five church denominations in Seattle, Washington in 1967 as Ecumenical Metropolitan Ministry, as of 2006 the organization distributes over 18 million pounds of food to programs in 37 of the state's 39 counties.^[1]

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Shortly after the organization was founded, Boeing began the severe cutbacks that dropped aerospace employment in the Seattle area from 98,000 in December 1968 to 29,800 in June 1971; unemployment in the area rose from 2.9% to 13.1%. The Ecumenical Metropolitan Ministry partnered with two other organizations to organize a food bank system, originally known as Neighbors in Need. In October 1970, they opened 34 food banks, originally conceived as "a short-term immediate response to the immediate crisis".^[1]

Even as the area recovered from its employment crisis, widespread need for food assistance remained. By early 1972, the network found itself serving 70,000 people a month. The Reagan administration's 1982 cuts to federal food stamp programs exacerbated this need, and led to further expansion of the food bank system.^[1]

In 1980, Northwest Harvest handled just over 1 million pounds of food, distributed in five counties. In 1986, they handled over 9 million pounds of food, distributed in 22 counties. In 2006, they handled over 18 million pounds of food, distributed in 37 of the state's 39 counties.^[1] Approximately 25% of this food is purchased staples (rice, beans, pasta, canned tomatoes, canned fruit, and various forms of protein); the rest comes from in-kind donations, mostly from businesses and institutions. The small percentage that comes from food drives "provides… variety… [and] helps break the monotony of the staple food items".^[2]

A warehousing system allows Northwest Harvest to handle fresh foods, vegetables, and even meat.^[2] They operate their own distribution centers in Yakima, King County, and Stevens County; they partner with a distributor in Grays Harbor to serve Pacific, Lewis, and Wahkiakum counties, and with the Emergency Food Network of Tacoma to serve Pierce, Kitsap, and Thurston counties. These various organization often support one another with staff and transportation services and to combine their buying power.^[3]

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